Saturday, November 8, 2008

EDDIE TRUNK POSTS NEWS ON ACE FREHLEY'S NEW CD

EDDIE TRUNK sheds some light on ACE FREHLEY's new CD-

"Well, I finally made the trip to his place in Westchester, New York yesterday [November 5] and we had a great time as always.

"Ace has been a close friend for over 20 years now and was the first artist I ever signed and worked with at a label in the '80s. Amazingly he has not done a new CD since. Obviously, much has gone on in his life since 'Trouble Walkin'', KISS reunions, career ups and downs, and most importantly he got sober. Another huge thing that has happened is a radical change in the music business and how people make and market records and how many they can sell. Ace knows he can trust me and knows I will give it to him straight, which is why he really wanted me to come and help him make some decisions on what to do next and hear where he's at with a CD he has been talking about for years."

Ace lives in the woods of Westchester, New York. A really nice country area. There are a couple houses and his studio on the property. The studio is a converted barn. A really cool place, to say the least. The studio is a very lived in rock and roll place. Original KISS gold and platinum records are on the walls, many falling apart in the frame due to being over 30 years old. Still cool and authentic. Other KISS/Ace memorabilia from the years is all over the place, including stuff from the reunion and some of Ace's KISS stage clothing. "Ace has been a close friend forever, but it's still so cool as a fan to take all this in and go back in time. We even looked at some photos from the '80s and early '90s from the original solo bands and tours and it brought back many memories! Needless to say there are guitars and instruments all around and a really cool main control room to the studio with the latest computer recording equipment. Ace was one of the first guys I ever knew really into computers, so it's natural he has fully embraced it for recording."

As for the music. I first heard three songs Ace was mixing about a year ago at a studio in New York City. All sounded good to me, but obviously I hadn't lived with them like Ace has. He now has about 15 total songs, six of which have been mixed by two different people. Jay Messina, who has worked with KISS and AEROSMITH, to name a few, in the past, and Michael Barbiero, best know for the production team in the '80s of Thompson/Barbiero (TESLA, GUNS N' ROSES) also mixed some stuff. There are also many songs not mixed, some not complete, and some still being written. You can already see where the delays are. This is an album in several phases of completion. If he wanted to put out a five-ong EP it's pretty much done, but the challenge is figuring out the direction he wants the album to be, what songs make it, and what mixes. Some of the songs I heard include 'Sister', which has been around for years and was played live, 'Pain In The Neck', which Ace said could be the album's title, 'Genghis Khan', which may be an instrumental, and my favorite so far, 'Change The World', which has a very heavy BEATLES vibe. "

As far as the direction, the album is more in line with classic KISS than anything that has been on any original members' solo releases thus far. Gene's [Simmons] last album was a little quirky and all over the map, Paul's [Simmons] glossy and pop leaning, Peter's [Criss] more ballads- and standards-influenced. This is straight-down-the-middle, in-your-face, loud-guitars hard rock. Exactly what KISS fans would expect.